Here we have a very nice Volvo 960, seen in Beijing back in 2015. The now classic Swedish sedan was dusty and busty, but otherwise in a reasonable shape. The famously pretty wheels looked very fine.
The Volvo 960 was made from 1990 until 1998 with a facelift in 1994. Our dark gray car is an original pre-facelift example, fitted with black Volvo and 960 badges. But there is more:
This badge is hugely interesting. The Volvo S90 was not officially sold in China, with a Volvo dealer network and such, but there was semi-official and official trade.
Most Volvo’s in China were shipped in by the Swire Group, a British trade and real estate conglomerate with extensive operations in China. The characters write 太古, Taigu, the Chinese name of Swire. The company also operates several business under the Taikoo name, which is an anglicized version of Taigu. The most famous Taikoo companies are Taikoo Sugar and real-estate developer Taikoo Shing.
All Volvo cars originally imported by Swire had the Taigu logo and Taigu name on the back. Taigu started selling Volvo cars in China in 1993 and became officially authorized by Volvo for the Chinese market in 1997. Taigu then opened several Volvo dealers in the big Chinese cities, but in 2001 the Swedish ended the deal because they believed Swire expanded too slowly. After that, Volvo took the distribution and sales into their own hands.
Swire mostly imported big sedans, like the 940, 960, the S90, and the 850. I have never seen a Swire-badged wagon or small Dutch-made Volvo.
I have always loved these wheels. Modern and elegant, simple yet brilliant. When the 960 was launched these wheels were standard. They were also shown on all the media images and such. Too bad Volvo doesn’t use these wheels anymore. I think they’d look great on a new S90.
The interior was in great shape too, with pretty black leather and wood panels in the center stack and doors. The radio is not original but it seems rather old as well. Lever for the automatic gearbox is enormous!
The Volvo 960 was available with various petrol engines, ranging from a 2.0 to a 2.8 V6 to a 2.9 l6. The engines were mated to a 5-speed manual or a 4-speed automatic, sending horses to the rear wheels. Sadly there was no engine badge on this car so I can’t be sure what’s under the bonnet. We can rule out the diesel because diesel-powered passenger car aren’t allowed in China.
Gigantic light units typical for early 960’s. The Q in the license plates indicates this was originally a company-registered car.
The Volvo 960 is a rare car on the road in Beijing these days. Ever stricter environmental regulations have sent most of these great cars to the scrap yard. But not this one!
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